The Bears' new predicament is an old one. At least this time it was expected.

They're in need of an offensive coordinator — again — after Adam Gase was hired as the Dolphins' head coach Saturday.

His departure, which seemed inevitable after he interviewed with four teams last week, means the Bears and quarterback Jay Cutler will have their sixth offensive coordinator in a span of eight seasons.

Coach John Fox and Cutler recently expressed confidence in the team's ability to replace Gase without stumbling on the field. But specifics of the succession plan did not come to light Saturday.

Quarterbacks coach Dowell Loggains is a strong in-house candidate because Fox and Cutler hold him in high esteem. But the Bears did not rush to promote him after Gase was introduced at a news conference in South Florida.

Other candidates could emerge. The NFL's coaching carousel still is spinning, and Fox is well connected from his 27 seasons coaching in the NFL.

"We have a good plan in place," Fox said Monday, "and finding good quality coaches has never been a problem."

Loggains, the Titans' offensive coordinator for the final five games of 2012 and all of 2013, contributed to Gase's play-calling this season. Cutler also credited Loggains with helping to improve his pocket presence and ball security. In Cutler's only season with Gase and Loggains, he posted a single-season career-best 92.3 passer rating.

"Dowell as a play-caller wouldn't be much different as a quarterbacks coach," Cutler said Monday. "He'd still be very involved in the quarterback room. We'd keep the same system. The identity as a football team wouldn't change much. We'd stay on the same path."

Fox praised the diminutive Loggains last month.

"He's got a great personality," Fox said. "He has good people skills. He's funny. He handles the short jokes really well. He's a tremendous football coach as far as his knowledge, so he gets instant credibility and respect from players because they know he can help them."

In contemplating possible candidates outside the current staff, it's worth remembering Fox went through the interviewing process a year ago before hiring Gase.

Last January, the Lions denied the Bears' request for permission to interview Jim Bob Cooter. The Lions then promoted Cooter to offensive coordinator midway through the 2015 season, and he's now in limbo as coach Jim Caldwell awaits his fate.

And according to multiple national outlets last January, the Bears at least were preliminarily interested in the Titans' Mike Mularkey and former Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis.

Fox has a reputation for treating assistants well and finding competent replacements when they advance. With the Broncos in 2013, he promoted Gase after offensive coordinator Mike McCoy left to become the Chargers' head coach.

Now Gase departs Chicago after one season and becomes the NFL's youngest head coach at 37.

"I've been in this profession since I was 18," Gase said at his introductory news conference. "That's more than half my life. The last three years it's an accelerated growth. Age is only a number. You get older really quick. Every week is a growing experience."

He interviewed for the Dolphins vacancy on Thursday and met with team officials again Saturday to finalize a five-year deal.

"I couldn't be happier for Adam and his family," Cutler said in a statement released by the Bears. "He has worked extremely hard his entire career and is very deserving of this opportunity. I wish he could stay with us in Chicago, but everyone has a journey and this is the next part of his."

Gase interviewed with the Eagles, Browns and Giants within five days of season's end. But the Dolphins moved quickly and convincingly, giving Gase final say over the 53-man roster.

He inherits a team that hasn't had a winning record since 2008. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill (drafted eighth overall in 2012) is athletic with a strong arm, and Gase now has the opportunity to jump-start Tannehill's career.

There's quality talent on both sides of the ball — receiver Jarvis Landry and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, for example — but depth is an issue. So is salary-cap space, as the Dolphins are expected to be over the 2016 limit.

Gase leaves a Bears offense ranked 21st in the NFL in total yards and yards per play in 2015. Injuries decimated their receiving corps and affected the offensive line. The resulting personnel problems affected continuity and resulted in matchup difficulties for the offense.

General manager Ryan Pace recently said the Bears have penciled Cutler in as their starter for 2016. The new coordinator also would inherit receiver Kevin White, the seventh pick in the 2015 draft who sat out his rookie season because of a stress fracture in his left leg.

Now the Bears embark on a familiar process to find that coordinator.

"Let me make this clear, our systems are our systems," Fox said Monday. "They're not any individual's systems. They are our systems. And our systems aren't changing. … You tweak and you grow and you adjust."